Chapin High School student Faith Babcock works on her chalk art piece of King Cold from the Dragon Ball cartoons during the school's Chalk It Up event Friday. Mark Lambie/El Paso Times (MARK LAMBIE/EL PASO TIMES)

A bland and gray sidewalk entrance to Chapin High School was transformed into a canvas of colors and characters by 150 student artists armed with handfuls of colorful chalk.

On Friday, the high school hosted it's 10th annual "Chalk It Up" exhibit at the high school, 7000 Dyer.

The event gives art students the opportunity to decorate the sidewalk entrance of the school.

Within a matter of minutes, the floor was covered with pictures of dragons, anime cartoon characters, portraits of family members, bears on a mountain bike heading on a trail toward the Franklin Mountains and sea creatures.

The artwork is expected to last throughout the summer or longer.

Art Teacher Elisa Barton, who is retiring at the end of the year, said this annual event is a chance for the students to showcase their work.

"We really want to let them shine," Barton said. "We want to put their work out there and have it on display for months to come. There are even some students that have graduated and they want to come back just to participate in this event."

Students used tecniques learned in class to make the artwork appear pop off the cement and come to life.

"So I wanted to put her face on the sidewalk to remember her. The picture and the chalk will last here for a really long time. It takes a while for it to fade."

Freshman Jorge Rojas chose to draw a space cowboy riding a rainbow unicorn lassoing a snake. Rojas drew his character suspended over Saturn, which had televisions circling the planet.

"I was just thinking of some random things while I was in class," Rojas said. "This is my brain on the floor.

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Since the event first began in 2003, Barton said she noticed that there are a lot more students wanting to participate in art classes.

Only art students may participate in the Chalk It Up exhibit.

Barton, said she started the annual exhibit about 10 years ago at the insistence of a friend from California.

"She kept telling me that I had to do something like this," Barton said. "And I kept saying, 'OK,' but didn't do anything. She was at me about it for two years. Then finally the second year she showed me the website Chalk It Up Sacramento and as soon as I saw it I thought, 'Oh we have to do this.'"

Through the help and support of the campus staff Barton said the annual event has been a great success.

Although this is Barton's final year at the high school, art teacher Carol Parsons said she and other members of the art department at the campus plan to continue the tradition.